scared to use cane

I finally used a cane in public for the first time today, I subluxed smth in my lumbar area working out and my knee and had to, but it was at the mall. It was weird seeing people look at me, but it gave me a bit of peace of mind that I didn’t know anyone and would never see them again. I’ve been trying to get myself to use a cane for a while, but that includes places like school or being in clubs/out with friends.

The thought of especially school is making me freak out because I have pretty bad social anxiety and all these people in my different classes have seen me walk “perfectly fine” without one before. I’m still at the point where I’m lying to other students saying that all the lectures i’ve missed were “the flu, period, virus, etc”, idk how I’m going to be able to handle showing up with a cane, but it’s either that or falling even further behind from absences.

All this is so frustrating already, but the anxiety surrounding using a cane is just making it worse. Does anyone have any stories of this same type of dread and how it all turned out ok? Any would be appreciated 🙏💗